The Supreme Court on July 12 granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy.
A Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta however observed that certain legal questions arising out of Mr. Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the central agency need to be referred to a larger Bench.
However, the Chief Minister will continue to remain in Tihar jail as he has been separately arrested by the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case related to the alleged scam.
“We are conscious that Arvind Kejriwal is an elected leader and the Chief Minister of Delhi, a post holding influence and importance”, the judges underscored while granting him the interim relief.
During the proceedings, the ED had argued that there was evidence of money being sent to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) through hawala channels. On Thursday, the agency said in its seventh supplementary chargesheet that Mr. Kejriwal was the “kingpin” and “key conspirator” in the alleged scam. Opposing such assertions, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Mr. Kejriwal, argued that the evidence being cited by the federal agency was not present during the Chief Minister’s arrest.
The appeal before the top Court was filed against a Delhi High Court verdict which upheld the Delhi CM’s arrest by recording a prima facie finding that there was adequate material, including statements of approvers, involvement of middlemen and references that cash was handed over for expenditure in the 2022 Goa elections.
Although Mr. Kejriwal was granted bail in the case by a trial Court on June 20, the High Court eventually stayed his release on the ground that the ED had not been given an adequate opportunity to argue its case.
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